Falling to the Darkness
by darkazureskies
Summary: The gang has just come back but their rest is cut short when old foes attack. Warning: Character death.


**RL: Well, here's another one shot my moi. My plot bunnies were eating at me to write this, so, here ya go.**

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts © Square Enix. **

**Falling to the Darkness**

"W-We're back."

"You're home."

§

It was a regular day on Destiny Islands. Children were running along the beach, collecting shells and sea glass while their parents were sitting under beach umbrellas, watching. But, two children had isolated themselves on a cluster of rocks.

One was a girl. Her hair was short, ending around the middle of her neck, and was a deep shade of brown. She had a pair of lively, azure eyes and her face was almost childlike even though she was 14. The girl was dressed in a white halter top, a pair of blue boy shorts, and a pair of black sneakers.

Next to the girl, there was a boy of 15. He also had azure eyes but there was a tint of green. The boy's hair was down to the middle of his back and was in a loose braid. His hair was silver. He was wearing a black tee, black shorts and black sandals.

"Sorya?" the boy asked.

"Yea, Ryan." The girl known as Sorya answered.

"You think _they'll_ be back soon?" Ryan pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his head on top of them. His gazed soon wandered to the sky.

"I hope…" was all Sorya said.

There was silence between the two until Sorya spoke up. "Ryan, it's been over a year. Do you really think that they'll just fall from the sky?" the boy didn't respond. He was too fixated on what he was seeing.

"Sorya….. Look." Ryan pointed to the sky and Sorya turned her head. There appeared to be two blue falling stars coming from the sky.

"What the….?" Sorya was now also fixated on the sight. But soon, the lights plummeted into the water and disappeared.

"That…. was weird…" Ryan looked down at his watch. "Oh, crap, we're late! Ours moms are gonna kill us!"

And with that, the two teens sprinted towards their homes.

§

"Quit hitting my boat!" a brunet boy exclaimed to his silver haired friend, pushing his boat away from his own.

"I'm not doing it! I'm just not used to rowing is all. It _has_ been a year, ya know," the silver haired boy shot back.

"Sora, Riku, hurry up!" a crimson hair girl yelled from a boat that was a few yards ahead of the boys. "You can fight when we get back."

"Yes, mom…. I mean, Kairi," Sora and Riku said in unison. Kairi just rolled her eyes.

§

In a brightly painted house, three people were sitting around a table in a brightly lit room. Two were women, around 30, and a short man, around 40. They all seamed to be waiting for someone, or some ones.

"They're late, _again,_" the man said. His voice was very low. He was dressed in a black suit and a red tie. His hair was red.

"They're probably by the rocks again," one of the women said. Her hair was silver, even though she was in her thirties, and it rested on her shoulders. Her piercing green eyes were gazing out the window, staring at a group of people starting to form.

"Not on the play island?" the second women asked. Her hair was brunette, and it rested half-way down her back and was layered, giving it a spiky look.

"They stopped going when Kairi stopped going. I don't know why though…" the man answered. "Let's get this started without them…"

"Just a few more minutes, Mr. Mayor," the brunette said.

The man made a fist and placed his other hand on it. He then said, "Sarah, how long have you known me? You know you can still call me Ken. You don't have to call me Mr. Mayor even though I'm mayor."

"Ken's right, Sarah. That's becoming one of your bad habits…" the silver haired women said to Sarah.

"A habit's a habit, Rachael. And what do you mean 'one of my bad habits'? I don't have that many," Sarah said with a frown, which only made her two friends laugh.

"Now I know where he gets that look," Rachael said in-between laughs. Ken nodded in agreement.

§

"Aw, man, they're gonna totally murder us," Ryan said as he tried to get through the crowd that was starting to form. "And, what the hell is with all these people?"

"I don't know," Sorya said, trying to keep Ryan in view.

Everyone was muttering things like "They're back" and "They came back home." The two teens were too distracted on getting home to pay attention to what they were saying, that is, until they heard the names "Sora" and "Riku" said throughout the crowd. The two tens heard this and looked at each other and, without a word, sprinted home.

They soon busted through the door of the brightly colored house. The three adults looked up to see the two teens catching their breath.

"Well, look who showed up," Ken said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Where were you two?" Sarah asked.

Ryan looked up and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "Tryin' to get through that massive crowd outside."

"What is with that crowd, anyways?" Rachael asked.

Sorya spoke this time. "How 'bout we show you instead." Sorya grabbed Sarah's hand and stated to lead her out the door. Ryan did the same with Rachael and Ken.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Sarah asked.

"Can't this wait until we're done?" Rachael asked.

"No, it can't, Mom. They're back!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Who's back?" Ken asked, confusion plastered on his face.

"No time for questions. They might be gone by the time we get there, and I don't want that to happen." Sorya again started to drag her mother out the door.

"Just answer this: Who's back?" Rachael asked.

The two teens grinned. "Sora and Riku."

§

The three teens were standing on the dock. Sora was tying up his boat and Riku was helping Kairi out of hers. Unaware to the three teens, a large group of villagers had materialized behind them.

"Welcome back!" was screamed to the trio, startling them. Sora was so startled that he lost his balance and fell head first into the boat.

"Owwwww…" Sora moaned and soon a soft string of curses could be heard as the Key bearer climbed out of the boat, rubbing his head. Riku was there with a helping hand, which Sora gladly took.

Before the two boys could recollect themselves, they were bombarded with questions from the villagers, causing the boys to nearly fall off the dock, _again._ Before the boys could protest, a voice rang through the crowd.

"Everybody SHUT UP!" Kairi belted to the crowd, which quieted quickly. "Thank you."

As soon as she had said that, three teens came bursting out of the crowd. It was none other than Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie.

"Man, you're back," Wakka said giving them a high five.

Selphie looked at them and placed her hands on her hips. "Took you two long enough."

"Hey." Sora and Riku said in unison, for the second time today.

Tidus pushed her aside. "Don't mind Selphie, she's just mad because we hit with our blitzball. Now she has her tidies in a knot."

By now, the crowd had disappeared, leaving the group of teens alone. The group started to walk down the beach, talking about what had happened over the year they were away. Sora had little input on what had happened the entire year because, as you know, he was asleep. This amused everyone except Riku, who just had a smug grin on his face.

"How come you're not helping out with my torture, Riku?" Sora asked.

"Because," Riku said, "I already knew that."

"You did?"

"Who else did ya think got you to Twilight Town?"

"Um…."

"You don't have to answer that…"

"Oh."

"Your idiocy is never going to change, Sora," Riku mocked, putting Sora into a head lock and giving him a nudge in the head.

"HEY!"

§

Sorya and Ryan had finally dragged their parents and the mayor to the docks, only to find it empty. The two teens looked defeated.

"See what you made us do? They're not here anymore," Sorya whined. Just then they heard a loud "hey" coming from the direction of the rocks Sorya and Ryan were previously sitting on. The group turned to see the outlines of a group of six teens. One seamed to have another one in a head lock. The five people went to approach the group since they were a good five yards away. When they were three yards away, they could hear the conversation that was going on.

"LET ME GO!" the one in a head lock exclaimed.

"Not until you admit to being idiotic." The one performing the head lock said.

"Never."

"Then admit to being naïve."

"Why should I?"

"If you do, I won't throw you in the water."

"Oh, water, I'm so scared. I'm trembling in my boots."

"But you're not wearing boots," a person, who they soon realized to be Tidus, pointed out.

"It's a figure of speech, Tidus," an auburn haired girl said. They soon realized it was Kairi.

"And I thought Sora here was stupid."

"Riku, shut up."

The three adults looked at each other and gasped. Did they hear right? Sorya and Ryan just nodded, reading each others mind. Ryan counted down from three with his fingers, and each snuck up on their respected brother. Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie saw this and tried to stifle their laughs.

Sorya and Ryan saw Riku let go of Sora and question the three, leaving them wide open.

The two teens crept up behind the boys and yelled, "BOO!"

"WAHHHHH!" the two boys exclaimed, they had jumped several feet into the air and landed into the water. And, of course, Sora ended up on the bottom.

"Why, why do I always end up at the bottom?" Sora whined.

"Because you're the densest," Riku replied.

"Dense? I'm not as dense as you."

"What did you say?"

Sora never got to respond because a loud wave of laughter erupted. The two boys turned their heads to see Sorya and Ryan rolling over in laughter.

"What's so funny?" a pissed off Riku asked.

"Your face, bro," Ryan answered between laughs.

"Why I oughta…" Riku said, standing up and stepping on Sora.

"Riku, get off me!" Sora exclaimed. "That's my gut!" the brunet pushed the silver off him, causing the silver to fall.

Kairi had been standing there holding her head, shaking it. "What am I going to do with you two?"

"Help us up?" Kairi sighed and pulled her friends out of the water. She then punched them slightly on the shoulder.

"What was that for?" Sora whined.

"For being idiots."

"Aha! Somebody agrees with me. Hey, wait…" Everybody laughed. Riku slapped himself. "That's not what I meant."

"Sure it isn't, man," Wakka said. "Well, me and Tidus got to go finish our blitzball game. And Selphie, we promise we won't hit ya this time around."

"I'll believe it when I see it, Wakka" Selphie said as she walked behind the two retreating boys. "Hey wait up!"

"Okay, I want to know how she got hit by the blitz ball," Sora said.

"It's Selphie. She always gets hit," Kairi said.

"True."

The teens soon noticed the three people standing not so far off. Kairi could see Sora and Riku tense.

"Oh, c'mon, you chickens," Kairi said grabbing the boys' wrists and dragging them towards the people.

The people saw this and started to laugh. Ryan and Sorya had joined Kairi and they were now pulling on the other wrist of the boys. The boys were soon unable to keep up with Kairi, Sorya, and Ryan so they just let themselves be dragged.

When they reached the three people, Sora and Riku were covered in sand, twigs and scratches. Sora was pulling out a twig out of his hair when he was suffocated by a hug. He looked up to see a pair of azure eyes staring him down. Riku had also been picking twigs out of his hair when he was engrossed into a hug and being stared down by keen, green eyes.

"Mom?" Riku and Sora both said.

"Sora/ Riku?" Sarah and Rachael said in unison. The two boys smiled and hugged their mothers.

Kairi was standing next to her father. "Aww…"

"Are you going soft?" Ken asked his daughter.

"Naw, I'm just happy for them." Kairi said crossing her arms. "They've been through a lot."

Sorya and Ryan had also joined their mothers in hugging their brothers.

---

Later that day, around 6 o'clock, Sora and Riku were sitting by a fire that was made earlier as it became dark. They had been explaining what had happened over the year to their parents and siblings. Of course, Riku had intentionally left out everything about Castle Oblivion and how Sora fell asleep. If Kairi wanted to know, she could just ask Naminé about it. The whole explanation took nearly a half hour, by which all the stars were visible. Sora then pointed this out, saying that each star was a world, and that all the worlds were once connected. Everyone except Sora, Riku, and Kairi were amazed at what had happened to the two boys. Everyone soon headed home to get a good night's sleep.

---

The next morning, Sora and Riku were walking along the beach, chatting. They then saw Sorya and Ryan sitting on the rocks and decided to get some payback for the previous day. Kairi had randomly appeared out of nowhere, scaring the boys.

"Kairi, don't do that," Sora complained.

"Why?"

"Because, we need to get some payback." Sora pointed to the two teens on the rocks.

"Well, I'll be here."

The boys just nodded, since they were already halfway to the rocks. But before they could reach their siblings, Sora and Riku were cut off by several Shadows.

"The Hell?! What are these things doing here?" Sora had whipped out Ultima while Riku took out his Way to Dawn. That's when they heard the screams of Ryan and Sorya.

"SORYA!"

"RYAN!"

The two boys sprinted off to the rocks and were just in time to stop a Knight from attacking.

"Go, run, now!" Riku commanded to the duo.

"But…" Sorya started but was cut off by her brother.

"No buts. GO!"

"C'mon, Sorya," Ryan said, grabbing his friend's hand. "They know what they're doing." Sorya only started at her brother as Ryan dragged her off towards Kairi, who was also swatting away Heartless. "Kairi, Sora and Riku are down there, if you want to know."

"I already knew," Kairi said without looking at the two. "Just go and tell everybody to hide and not to leave their hiding places until the emergency bells ring. Can you do that, Ryan?"

"Yes."

"Good." And with that, the two were off. Kairi sighed and ran to the boys. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know, Kai," was all Sora said.

"Yes, you do," Riku said in a monotone voice.

"But Riku…"

"No, Sora, we have to use it. It has to be done."

"But he said only to use it during an emergency."

"What does this look like Sora, a picnic!?!" Riku exclaimed in anger, startling the nearby Heartless, making them flee.

"But the risk…"

"It's a risk we'll have to take."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kairi asked, confused on what her two friends were talking about.

"This." The two boys said in unison. Riku pulled out a keychain along with Sora. Their keychains looked like they were meant to put together. Sora's was in the shape of half a black Mickey head and Riku's looked like a half white Mickey head. Sora then took out two mega-potions and handed them to Kairi.

"Use these on us the moment we separate the keychains. Not a second before, not a second after. The _moment_ we separate them. Understand?" Kairi took the potions and nodded. She had no idea what was going on, but if Sora was this serious, then it must be important.

"Sora, ready?"

"Yea."

The two boys took the keychains and on the count of three, slammed them together. A bright, white light shot from where the keychains combined. Kairi didn't turn her head or close her eyes. She had to be prepared. Sora and Riku stayed in the position for nearly five minutes, but soon after they broke apart and Kairi tossed the potions at them, engulfing them in a green light.

"What was that?" Kairi asked.

"We just made a call," Sora said.

"Call?"

"To the King," Riku finished.

"Oh."

"C'mon, let's go see if Ryan and Sorya did their job."

"Right." With that, the three headed out.

§

On the other side of the island, in the forest, Sarah, Rachael and Ken were collecting fruit. The three adults we oblivious to what was happening on the other side of the island, that is, until they were surrounded by a small group of Shadows. But at that exact moment, a bright light filled the sky and chased the Heartless away.

"What the…?" Sarah mumbled as she dropped the fruit she had gathered.

"I have no clue…" Ken said.

"Isn't that what Sora and Riku said were Heartless?" Rachael said.

"I don't know and I don't care but we should probably hide."

"Right, let's go." And the adults ran towards the town.

§

"Ryan, over there!"

"I see it!" Ryan slashed through another Heartless with his Kanata. They had been able to tell most of the villagers except their mothers and the mayor. "Damnit, where are they?"

"They won't answer their cells, so I don't know." Sorya hit another Heartless with her arrows. "We have to find Sora, Riku, and Kairi. They'll know what to do."

"Yea. C'mon." And the duo ran towards the beach.

§

"Sora, behind you!" Kairi yelled.

"I see it!" Sora then chucked his Keyblade at the line of Heartless and the Keyblade cut through all of them. It then boomeranged back to his hand.

At the beginning of the invasion, it had been mostly lower-level Heartless but now they were getting stronger and stronger. They would need the King, Donald, and Goofy soon. But for now, they had to keep their ground.

Sora was now surrounded by at least sixteen Neo-Shadows and had no way of escaping. He preformed Explosion which cleared half of them. But what he didn't see was the group of Knights sneaking up on him. Kairi saw this and yelled, "Sora, behind you!" But, it was too late. The Knight had already stuck its claw into his chest, pulling out his heart. "SORA!" Kairi ran towards the brunet.

"Kairi, wait!" Riku screamed, but it was too late. That Heartless was still there, and it had a second hand. The Knight saw her coming, and went in for the kill. In mere seconds, Kairi was laying on top of Sora, slowly fading away. Riku fell to his knees, his eyes fixated on the sight before him. "No…" Tears silently fell from his eyes. "N-N-No…"

Around the corner, Ryan and Sorya came running, but stopped when they saw Sora and Kairi on the ground. "Where's Riku?" Ryan asked. He looked around until he saw his brother on the ground, surrounded by Heartless. "We have to help him, Sorya. C'mon."

Sorya shot half of the Heartless with her arrows while Ryan cut through the rest. Once the Heartless were gone, Ryan and Sorya dragged Riku over to a tree. They shook him frivolously, but he paid no notice.

"Riku, Riku! Riku, snap outta it." Ryan yelled at his brother. He continued this while Sorya shot at any Heartless that got too close.

From around the corner, Sarah, Rachael, and Ken came running. They skidded to a complete halt when they saw Sora and Kairi slowly fading away on the ground. They then saw Ryan shaking a crying Riku with Sorya shooting at heartless. Rachael was the first to move from the spot and ran up to her two sons. "Ryan, what happened?"

"I don't know, Mom. We just got here. Everything was just like we found it. And, Riku. Won't. Snap. Outta. It." Ryan replied shaking Riku even more.

"Aw, shit." Sorya said.

"What?"

"I'm outta arrows."

"Mom, you try and snap Riku outta it and I'll keep the Heartless at bay."

"No." everyone turned to Riku, who was getting up. "No, Ryan. You stay here. I'll take care of the Heartless."

"Riku…" Rachael said.

"Mom, don't. His mind's made up." Ryan said, putting away his katana.

"Keep that out, Ryan, you may need it. Keyword there is _may._"

"Okay, bro."

Riku then ran to where all the Heartless were spawning. He ran right past the spot where Sora and Kairi had been and saw something shine. He bent down and picked up Sora's crown necklace. He clamped his hand around the crown and ran with determination in his eyes. If you had a very keen eye, you would be able to see transparent Sora and Kairi running next to him. Riku soon found the portal in which the Heartless were coming from. It was the rock on which Sorya and Ryan would sit. "Figures…" Riku groaned. It was _always_ the last place you would expect. He tried to destroy it with Dark Aura but that didn't work. He tried using XIII Blades but didn't work either. _Damnit, nothing's working… Where's Mickey when you need him?_ Riku thought. But then he heard his mother scream. Riku pivoted on his heal a sprinted towards the group.

§

After Riku left, the group became as small as possible. In other words, they grouped together the best they could. Very few Heartless attacked them, but then a group of Nobodies showed up and Ryan's blade couldn't touch them. Ryan soon was being tossed between them like a play toy. One Nobody, carrying a claymore, hit Ryan into a nearby tree, causing it to splinter and fall on him.

"RYAN!" Rachael screamed as the tree fell. Not soon after, millions of Heartless and Nobodies swarmed them.

Just as soon as they came, they disappeared. In front of them was a poorly beaten Riku. "Are you ok?" he asked. He looked around. "Where's Ryan?" His mother only cried as she pointed towards the tree. Riku turned to see a fading hand from under the tree. "No… Not. Again." Riku then saw a horde of 20 Heartless and 15 Nobodies charging towards him. He created a Dark Shield around his friends and family. Riku then charged at the Heartless and Nobodies, first using XIII Blades on them. What he didn't know was that while he was fighting, several Berserkers broke away from the group and were trying to break down the Dark Shield.

"RIKU!" his mother called out.

Riku turned around to see one of the Berserker break through the shield and several Heartless jump at the group. The group never felt the impact because seconds before, Riku had appeared in front of them and created another Dark Shield. Riku looked, and felt, completely beaten, so he took out a Mega-Potion and used it on himself. His mother looked on in concern. "Riku…" Rachael said.

"I'm fine, Mom, really," Riku said in a comforting voice. "I've been through worse." Indeed, he had. Unknown to anybody else, even the King, Riku had been there at Hollow Bastion helping in the Heartless battle. He had been extremely close to where Sora has been fighting, helping him. Occasionally, when he saw Sora use Cure, Riku would add a little bit of a potion to strengthen the Cure power. But now, Riku was on his own to fight these Heartless and he _really_ didn't like that idea.

Riku was just about to turn around when he was hit into the air by a Dancer's Swing Toss. _"If I make it out of this, Sora _really_ needs to teach me how to do Arial Recovery…" _Riku thought to himself as he twisted himself in the air so he would at least land on his feet. He then was hit yet again by another Berserker back at the other one. "What the Hell?! Am I a toy?" Riku exclaimed as he grabbed hold of a tree branch and swung around it, landing on it. "I'm _really_ startin' to get pissed at these things…" He then threw his Keyblade at the Nobodies, killing them. "Two down, several hundred to go. Joy…" For the next hour, Riku alternated between protecting the group and attacking the Heartless and Nobodies.

§

It was nearly sunset when the inevitable happened. Riku had only a few Heartless to go when he heard three screams. _"Shit…"_ he thought as he turned around. He did not like what he saw. Sorya, Ken, and Sarah were all fading away. _"Oh, damnit…"_ Riku looked around for his mother after not seeing her on the ground. He spotted Rachael clinging to a tree surrounded by several Heartless. "Mom!" Riku yelled as he ran towards his mother, but he was too late, for the Heartless jumped her and she went down in a second flat. "MOM!" Riku slumped to his knees, exhaustion and grief taking over him. For all he knew, he was the last one on the island. Riku looked up to the graying sky to see a vortex start to form. He didn't care though. He also didn't care that he was surrounded by Heartless that were closing in on him. Riku was at least leaving the islands to the Darkness after fighting a good fight. The Heartless attacked him just as the world fell apart, taking his heart. Before he fully faded away, Riku could have sworn he saw the Highwind coming into the world. _"You're a little late Mickey…" _And with that, Riku and Destiny Islands were gone.

§

The Highwind whizzed to a stop as the world before it disappeared. "Damnit!" exclaimed the mouse King, slamming a fist to the dashboard.

"King Mickey!" a duck and dog exclaimed together. But the King didn't listen. He was too over come by grief. The King slid back into his seat and sighed.

"Your Majesty, are you okay?" the duck asked. The dog nodded in agreement.

"I'm fine, Donald, Goofy," the King answered. Just then he was hit by an idea. "Donald, set course for Traverse Town. We still might be able to find them." He said this with false hope because he had feel three pains in his heart. He knew that they wouldn't find the trio, but they could at least try. And with that, the Highwind speed off.

**RL: Ok, 17 pages is WAY too many pages for a one shot. I'm not even sure if it's gonna be a one shot. I'll only make it longer if you people want it longer. But as of now, it's a one shot. So, R&R, plz. Thanks.**


End file.
